A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to toilet seats, and more particularly to a toilet seat control which leaves the user's hands free for sanitary and convenience or other purposes.
B. Description of the Prior Art
The first step of using a shared toilet bowl is to decide the up or down position of the toilet seat and move it or leave it at the desired position every other time. Devices have been suggested to avoid hands touching toilet seats shared by others of different nature in maintaining toilet sanitation. One improvement is suggested by U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/860,045 with a foot actuated toilet seat lifter having a combination of levers connecting foot lever directly to the toilet seat wherein depression of the foot lever causes the levers to pivot to lift the seat.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/721,515 shows a foot-operated toilet seat having two geared shafts connected between a foot lever and the toilet seat. Depression of the foot lever lifts the toilet seat against gravity, which forces the seat to the resting position with the release of the foot lever.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,534,073 to Smith discloses a toilet seat lifter with a leverage system wherein a foot pedal positioned at a height above the floor is stepped on by the user to leverage the toilet seat to an upright position at which the seat is held on.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,803,741 to Ellison describes a toilet seat lifter with a foot lever, which should be stepped on to keep the seat raised.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,988 to Won discloses a foot-operated toilet seat lifting and lowering mechanism which comprises a cable-operated foot lever and a crank to be installed on the toilet seat hinge. The foot lever may be depressed and locked in position to hold the seat up and released by a mechanism at the lever to lower the seat under the gravity.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,192 to Hodges discloses an apparatus for the raising and self-lowering a toilet seat which uses a set of levers requiring leg and foot motions trained to press down a foot lever all the while the toilet is used by the standee, gentleman.
In these and other prior art devices, sophisticated leg and foot motions are required to control the lifting and lowering the seat which does not justify the elaborate configuration of mechanical components, which are expensive to make and thus to sell. These direct actuation mechanisms require the operators to bear the direct load of the toilet seat at the foot. One or two misses of pedal manipulation at a segment of the actuation cycle would slam the seat down to the bowl giving nuisance to the others. Retail stores would not like to deal with novelty goods with good possibility of returns straight from someone's toilet seat.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,877 to Kumarasurier suggests a foot actuated double acting lever for lifting a toilet seat installed in place of the existing toilet seat hinge. The lever is made possible by a complex gear set and a lock catch surrounding a ratchet mechanism to allow a successive foot pedaling for rotating the seat or a lid between its locked lifted position and lowered position.
In spite of their contributions to the sophistication in the imaginary bathroom scene, new toilets are still built and operated without the need of adding the complexity or cost of seat lifters which are less attractive to bear.